Words Too Late
by PuccaFanGirl
Summary: After five years since he saved Peaches from Captain Gutt and five years of feeling too afraid to ever tell her his true feelings, Louis receives heartbreaking news from the mammoth of his heart. One-Shot. Peaches/Louis.


**Man, joining and seeing all the super cool options Archive of Our Own has to offer really managed to motivate me to write another fic again! And so soon after the last one for once too! But of course I'll post it here too because it's still fanfiction n' all that. XD But anyway, here's a fanfic representing my disappointment over the Peaches/Louis ship sinking as soon as Ice Age 5 came out and him being pushed to the side as a mere cameo instead of a major character like in the last movie. Enjoy the sorrow, lol.**

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It's been five years since Louis saved Peaches from the clutches of Captain Gutt and moved to a lusher island as a replacement for their previously destroyed Snow Valley. The both of them had grown up to be young adults with ambitions of their own. At least Peaches did.

Louis, now 20 years of age, still hasn't decided what exactly he wants to do in the future. He'd often hear the same old story from many animals who say they hope to one day settle down with a family of their own when they grow up, but Louis never thought that far ahead, and felt like creating a family of his own would just be adding to what he felt like a mere trend among many mammals.

Besides, he already has a family, and it's with Peaches and the rest of her wacky members a part of it. True he would very often go scavenging around on his own, still digging underground as molehogs do, but he felt happy to know that he had good friends to come back to whenever he needed them.

Not to mention he has no interest in any other member of his molehog species. To this day Peaches remains the only one for him, even if they aren't the same species at all and she's so much bigger than him by comparison. He knew and practically accepted by this point that she doesn't seem to exactly return his feelings, but he was still happy to be her best friend and to spend as much time with her as possible.

He had often hoped however, that one day he'd be able to tell her just how he feels, and although he knew it was very likely just wishful thinking, maybe she too could eventually return those feelings someday. A romantic relationship with her may not work on a species-related level but he didn't care. He loved her and would do anything for her, no matter how dangerous the situation.

The stomping of large feet caught the attention of one of his ears, flicking up in response. Why there she was! An excited 21-year old Peaches who looked incredibly eager to tell him something.

Louis smiled at her as adoringly as he always did. "Hey, Peaches, what's up? You look really happy!"

Peaches giggled excitingly. "I am! I've got the most wonderful news to tell you, Louis!"

He snickered, charmed by her excitement. "Really? What is it?" He asked eagerly himself.

She gave out a small giggly squeal. "Well, you know that really nice mammoth, Julian?"

Louis' smile immediately turned into a frown. Yes, he knew Julian, and he knew that Peaches had eyes for him for quite a few months now and he seemed to feel the same way. It made him jealous the way she looked at him with such adoration, but at the very least, he could agree that he was a much better mammoth than Ethan.

"Yeah? What about him?"

Peaches squealed again. "Well, after a few months of hanging out together and having so much fun, just a few minutes ago, Julian proposed to me!" She excitedly shouted out.

Louis immediately felt his heart stop and stomach churn, his eyes widening in shock. "P-proposed?!" He responded, a nervous and heart-breaking feeling erupting within him.

"Uh-huh! And he did it so perfectly too. He set up all these beautiful stocks of flowers everywhere, invited Mom, Dad, Uncle Sid and Diego, Uncle Crash and Eddie, and Aunt Shira all together, and he gave me the most romantic speech. Then he kneeled down and offered me the most beautiful pearl for my trunk in marriage that I have to show you right now!"

Reaching out her trunk from behind the back of her head, she pulled out the pearl Julius had given her, and although Louis could definitely agree it was beautiful, that wasn't enough to distract him from the stuttering nervous mess he was becoming. "B-but-!"

"Unfortunately, Dad didn't look too pleased with the proposal, but you know how he still kind of is with me and boys. I'm glad he agreed to come at least. Though Sid's granny didn't cause she's just always her usual crabby self and says she divorced her husband long ago." She laughed, so overcome with excitement that she didn't notice Louis freaking out.

"B-but, wait! This is so out of nowhere, when- how did this happen? I mean I know you've spent time with him for so long but, why now? Why wasn't I invited or notified over any of this?!" He continued stuttering anxiously.

Peaches frowned. "I was going to invite you, but I couldn't find you anywhere and kept calling for you, but you never responded, so I figured you must've been too deep underground to hear. As a result, the proposal ceremony still wasn't one hundred percent perfect without you there… I'm so sorry, Louis. I guess I really should've looked harder or tried to dig deeper into the ground myself." She told him apologetically with a guilty expression.

Although Louis felt flattered by her admitting that it wasn't entirely the same without him, he felt his heart sink. Not only from missing the proposal and not being informed of it, but from knowing that she's finally been taken by someone else. He let out a disappointed sigh, looking down at the ground with a pained expression.

Peaches began to feel worse. "Oh, Louis, I'm so, so sorry, I know you would've wanted to come. It's all my fault for not looking hard enough and now I left you feeling so sad and left out and-"

"It's fine, Peaches." Louis interrupted.

Her eyes widened, cocking an eyebrow, still concerned. "What?"

He took in a deep breath and glanced up at her with the best smile he hoped he could give her, even if forced. "It's fine. You tried looking for me and wanted to invite me, but I was so buried underground that I was hard to find, and that's okay. I understand."

She placed her trunk on the side of his cheek sympathetically, a light blush appearing on his face and barely realizing that he was leaning into her gentle grasp. "Are you sure?" She asked him with guilt and concern still clear within her voice.

He gripped her trunk and slowly pulled it away, holding it affectionately within his tiny claws. "Of course. I'm happy for you and your new fiancée." He told her with a reassuring smile.

Peaches smiled back. "Well…if you say so…"

Louis nodded, feeling his expression change to sadness again, letting go of her trunk in the process.

The young mammoth gazed at him worriedly once again. "Louis, are you _really_ sure? You still look really sad!"

"No, I'm fine Peaches, it's entirely something else!" He snapped back.

Slightly startled, she now felt concern and confusion. "Well, what else could it be that's bothering you?"

Louis let out another sigh. He knew what it was, but she certainly didn't. She never did because he never worked up the nerve to tell her his true feelings. And now those days of hoping he'd be able to tell her and hopefully have her return his feelings are completely over. She now belongs to someone else. His chances with her are gone. But did he ever even have any chances with her to begin with? He was a molehog and she was a mammoth after all, and it was clear for a long time that she was hopelessly in love with Julian. And even though it hurts him terribly, he at least felt relieved to know that it was with a good guy who truly loves her back unlike Ethan. But now with her engagement to be married, there's no way he could tell her how he feels now. It's too late. And he'll lay a long time in a pool of regret for completely wasting the years not feeling brave enough to tell her, even if he knew that even if he told her, they still probably wouldn't be meant to be.

He shook his head, running a claw through his hair to maintain a calm and supportive attitude. "It's nothing, Peaches, I'll get over it soon, so don't you worry, okay?" He told her, looking up at her with another reassuring smile.

Peaches still felt bad, but she took Louis' word for it. "Okay."

She ruffled her trunk through his hair affectionately, Louis laughing softly in response. "Well, since I couldn't find you to invite you to the proposal ceremony, you'll come to the actual wedding, won't you?" She asked him hopefully.

Louis nodded, a grateful smile forming on his face. "Yeah, absolutely! No matter where you go or what happens, I'll always be here for you, Peaches. Never ever doubt that." He told her with true honesty.

She smiled gratefully back. "And no matter where _you_ go or what happens Louis, you will always be my best friend."

Louis immediately smiled that adoring smile he always gave her once again, his cheeks a light red. "Of course, thank you, Peaches."

"You're welcome, and thank you too, Louis."

She began to walk off, turning her back towards his direction. "You wanna hang out some more tomorrow?" She asked gleefully.

"Absolutely." He replied affectionately.

Peaches nodded, and walked off.

Now that she was gone, Louis began to truly feel the heartbreaking pain he was going through. His eyes welled up with tears and he sat down, all alone in his misery. He was glad that he was still Peaches' friend and he was glad that she still cared about him even if they're strictly platonic feelings, and he knew that even just being her friend was good enough for him as it always been even after he saved her, because supporting her and being with her were the truly most important things of all to him. And he agreed to do his best by continuing that support by coming to her wedding and congratulating her on her marriage. But he still couldn't deny how much it hurt to know that her heart now belongs to someone else and how he had so much time to tell her but never did.

Continuing to sob, he pulled his knees up to his face, hiding in them and found himself gently and tragically whispering out some of the words she could never hear.

"Goodbye, Peaches…"

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 **Dammit, Louis, I'm so sorry I put you through so much pain for the sake of a fanfic. I will always ship you and Peaches. You deserved so much better, dammit. ;^;**

 **Also, forgive me for my repetitive writing... I know it's pretty meh compared to many other fanfiction writers I can think of;;;**


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